Coming up on Saturday, April 4, 2015, the Genealogical Committee of Western Reserve Historical Society is hosting an event for people to learn about family automobiles and the automotive industry in Northeastern Ohio. Derek E Moore will be presenting information in a session titled “Love Those Cars–Automotive History & Our Family Cars.” The workshop session will be from noon to 3 pm in the WRHS Research Library.
This is an opportunity to gain insight into the experiences of your ancestors relative to automobiles in Cleveland and beyond, to learn about the automotive industry in the NEOhio area, and to explore the Marque Files in the Research Library.
Derek is the Frederick C and Kathleen S Crawford Curator of Transportation at WRHS. You will be impressed with his extensive knowledge of automotive industry history, and of historic automobiles and their preservation. He previously worked at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, where he gained valuable experience in automobile preservation. He recently attended a meeting of the National Association of Automobile Museums, where he exchanged ideas and networked with other automotive museum professionals.
Do you have a photo of an ancestor with a car that you would like to identify? Or maybe just the model and year? During the session, members of the Genealogical Committee will be on hand to help you organize what you know about the mystery vehicle and you then will have an opportunity to consult with Derek to identify the vehicle and learn details about it.
With the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum just steps away from the Research Library, it is natural that the Society would collect information about automobiles. The Automotive Marque Files offer a treasure trove of automobilia including dealer brochures, owner’s manuals, customer mailings, and employee publications. In many instances, period photographs and postcards augment the factory literature, while contemporary articles and pamphlet histories supplement the primary materials. More information is available online about the Marque Files. Volunteers will be available to assist with “hands on” time to explore the Marque Files and other resources in the library.
Please register for the family history automotive workshop by going to the online registration page for this event. There is a $15 fee for this event to cover the cost of handout materials.
Before and following the workshop, you will be free to tour the Crawford Auto Aviation Collection.
If you are interested in seeing a brief intro into Derek’s knowledge about automotive preservation, go to this online resource: “Mechanical Preservation of Historic Motorized Vehicles.”
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